This application claims priority from and incorporates by reference the subject matter of Swiss Patent Application 2000 2279/00 filed Nov. 23, 2000.
The invention relates to a sabot projectile having a sabot and a shattering penetrator, which has a penetrator casing and a penetrator core in a conduit and is arranged in the sabot.
Shattering penetrators are used as training munitions. They are designed in such a way that they demonstrate accuracy in hitting on impact, but do no cause great damage in the target area; in particular it is intended to minimize the impact, or ricochet, effects.
Sabot projectiles are used for firing sub-caliber munitions. Sabot projectiles are used as training munitions, because they allow the firing of munitions of small caliber by means of weapons which do not need to be refitted for training purposes, i.e. must be equipped with weapon tubes or weapon tube inserts.
It is obvious that sabot projectiles with shattering penetrators constitute the optimal training munitions.
Such sabot projectiles with shattering penetrators are known, for example, from EP-0 989 381-A2. They have proven themselves in actual use, but are comparatively expensive to produce.
A projectile in the form of a full-caliber shattering penetrator is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,108,074-A. The penetrator has a penetrator casing made of steel and a penetrator core made of a plastic material. The penetrator casing is cup-shaped and encloses the rear part of the penetrator core, while the front part of the penetrator core protrudes out of the penetrator casing. The penetrator casing has grooves on its circumference, which constitute predetermined breaking points. The break-up of the penetrator casing into several casing elements is intended to occur upon impact. As mentioned above, this is a full-caliber projectile, which does not have a sabot. Therefore a premature break-up of the penetrator casing into its casing elements can only be prevented by the penetrator core itself, since there is no sabot cover which aids in preventing the break-up of the casing elements during loading the projectile into the weapon tube, from which it is to be fired, as well as during firing. Therefore, to prevent the premature break-up into casing elements, the predetermined breaking points are only suggested and have almost no weakening effect. The result of this is that the desired break-up into casing elements on impact also does not take place assuredly. Therefore the use of this scattering penetrator in a sub-caliber projectile would not bring the desired result, namely the assured break-up at any impact angle.
Starting with the prior art in accordance with EP-0 989 381-A2, it is therefore the object of the present invention to create an improved sabot projectile with a sub-caliber scattering penetrator, which is simpler to produce than the already known projectiles of this type, and which is at least equally advantageous in its usage.
In accordance with the invention, this object is attained in connection with a sabot projectile of the type mentioned at the outset by providing a unitary penetrator casing having two casing portions with a casing breaking area between the two portions and a central conduit, and a penetrator core constituted by a plastic material which has been introduced in a flowable state into the central conduit of the penetrator casing with a core breaking area adjoining the case breaking area.
Preferred further developments of the sabot projectile of the invention are defined in the specification.
The novel sabot projectile with the sub-caliber shattering penetrator is optimal in production as well as in use.
On impact, the projector casing breaks up into several casing portions at the predetermined casing breaking areas, so that the undesired ricochet effect is reduced, since the individual partial masses are reduced in comparison to the total mass, and the air resistance is increased.
Preferably the partial masses into which the casing breaks up are approximately identical, because of which the ricochet effect as a whole is reduced.
The penetrator core is designed in such a way that it assuredly keeps the casing portions of the penetrator casing and, in case of a penetrator casing composed of several casing elements these casing elements, together, while the sabot projectile is conveyed to the weapon tube, is fired and while it is in flight, but does not hamper the break-up of the casing elements upon impact.
A break-up into the casing portions is assured by the areas of predetermined breaking points located between them, which essentially extend along the circumference, but are not necessarily located in planes vertically in respect to the longitudinal axis of the sabot projectile.
The penetrator core alone could assure the break-up of the penetrator casing into the casing portions during flight. To overcome the stresses being created during the conveyance to the weapon tube and upon firing, the sabot cover also aids in preventing the break-up of the penetrator casing.
As already mentioned, the unitary penetrator casing can be made of one or several casing elements, for example a front casing element and a rear casing element.
If the penetrator is composed of several casing elements, these are preferably directly connected with each other, for example by a threaded section, gluing, soldering or any other connection known per se. However, the casing elements are also indirectly connected with each other by the penetrator core and, prior to their separation from the sabot after leaving the weapon tube, by the sabot.
Predetermined casing breaking points between casing portions are formed, for example, by areas of the penetrator casing having a reduced wall thickness and/or a sudden change in the wall thickness, or which are made of a material different from the rest of the penetrator core.
Preferably, not only does the penetrator casing have predetermined casing breaking points, but the penetrator core also has predetermined core breaking points, which adjoin the predetermined casing breaking points.
Moreover, the penetrator core can have a predetermined tip breaking area located in the area of the back end of the penetrator tip.
The various casing elements can be made from the same or from different materials.
The penetrator core preferably is made of a highly heat-resistant plastic material. Generally this plastic material is filled with suitable particles by means of which it is possible, inter alia, to affect its brittleness when in its state of use. In any case, the penetrator core is made from a material which is flowable during production. In this case it can be a fluid, or pasty, material, which is shaped by means of pressure or injection molding processes. Possibly a powder-like mass could also be used, which afterwards is combined by the application of pressure and/or heat to form a solid body.
The scattering process is affected by a plurality of parameters, in particular by the configuration of the predetermined casing breaking point and the predetermined core breaking point, furthermore by the absolute and relative diameter of the penetrator casing and the penetrator core, and by the choice of a suitable plastic material for the penetrator core.
The invention will be extensively described in what follows by means of an exemplary embodiment, while making reference to the drawings.